One of the challenges in today's hosting system networks is extending the virtual networks (e.g., of one or more tenants) to other physical networks through hardware switches (e.g., third party hardware switches). Having a central network controller communicate directly with one or more hardware switches (in order to configure and manage the switches) leaves the central controller subject to malicious network attacks. Additionally, direct communication with the hardware switches causes a negative affect on network scalability. Therefore, there is a need for an efficient architecture that allows the central network controller to configure and manage hardware switches in order to integrate these switches with one or more virtual networks.